


Darkness and Light

by stjarna



Series: Season 4 - Coda Challenge [6]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Coda Challenge, Coda Challenge @The FitzSimmons Network, Episode s04e06 The good samaritan, F/M, Regret, Spoilers, Tumblr, Tumblr: thefitzsimmonsnetwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 20:01:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8461108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stjarna/pseuds/stjarna
Summary: Written for The "Season 4, Episode 6 - The Good Samaritan" Coda Challenge organized by The Fitzsimmons Network on Tumblr.Summary in the Notes section, as additional spoiler protection for those who have not seen the episode.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Jemma's thoughts while she's black-bagged and Fitz's thoughts while he tries to shut the reactor down.

Darkness. Not a single ray of light shines through that damn black bag.

That smug smile, as he gestured at it, announcing, “But _this_ is for you…”

That arrogant sip of coffee. Who knew one could sip coffee so arrogantly?

Jemma stumbles along while the two guards hold a strong grip on her arms, leading her god-knows-where.

_A team that trusts is a team that triumphs_

How dare he try to throw that back into her face.

She hears a car door opening, and one of the guards presses her head down, pushing her into the car. She smells the leather seats. The interior is spacious, that much she can tell.

She didn’t trust Mace. And now Mace didn’t trust _her_. Their team wouldn’t triumph.

Trust. It was hard to come by these days.

And thanks to the Director’s lie detection regimen, even a trust that she never thought could be broken had suffered. Those stupid polygraphs that she thought she had successfully blackmailed herself out of.

_A top-secret, very classified, for-your-eyes-and-ears-only assignment._

It should have made her suspicious. Something in his tone. He sounded even more smug than usual. And yet, something wasn’t quite right. Something didn’t add up. Something had happened. She knew it. Mace had been peeved, for sure, but he had also understood. Understood that _everyone_ —including him—had their secrets. He wasn’t the kill-the-people-in-your-way revenge type. Something else was going on. Maybe there _was_ some truth to the story he had dished out.

_As the leading scientific authority on Inhumans, your expertise has been requested by people at the very highest levels._

But he hadn’t allowed her to pack, hadn’t allowed her to gather equipment, hadn’t allowed her to tell anyone where she was going.

What if she had underestimated him? What if this was it?

Loose ends. She hadn’t been allowed to tie up her loose ends. _One_ end really.

 _Just go. Coulson needs you._ Those were her last words to him, followed by some ramblings about her not getting fired and him trying to make a stupid joke that backfired in his face.

He had tried. He had tried to end the fight. But she wasn’t ready to let go yet. She was too stressed. Too focused on the lie detection test. The last thing she did was give him a disapproving stare.

And he had grabbed his jacket and left.

She had sent him a text after her meeting with Mace. Let him know that she hadn’t been fired. Told him she’d tell him everything later. There was no time for a phone call she told herself. It could wait. She wanted to do it in person.

 _I’m glad_ , he had texted back, with a little dorky heart emoji.

Now she was sitting in the dark. Quite literally. She didn’t know where she was being taken. She didn’t know how his mission was going. She didn’t know if she would see him again.

All she knew is that the last time they spoke, it had been an argument. There had been no kiss, no hug, not even a simple good-bye touch.

_I’m tired of seeing our friends ripped apart from each other. That can’t happen to us again. I won’t let it._

_Then we won’t let it._

Except now they _had_.

She fights back tears in the darkness surrounding her. Tears of regret.

She makes a promise right then and there. “If I get out of this alive--”

The car stops. The door opens. “Dr. Simmons, it’s a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for coming on such short notice,” a familiar voice says sarcastically.

* * *

* * *

 

“Hold down the fort. I’ll be right back,” Mack says before heading out the door.

The whole complex was about to blow to pieces, but he’ll hold down the fort. _Yeah sure, no worries._

Fitz lets muscle memory take over, gives the reign to the scientific part of his brain, trying everything and anything to shut down the power. But in the back of his mind, other voices break through.

Hers. His. Their argument.

He had meant well. He had done it to protect her, to protect her status. He _had_ to keep AIDA from her, but he _shouldn’t_ have. She had every right to be angry. AIDA _was_ a machine and he was humanizing her… **_it_**... maybe too much. Jemma had been right.

And he had tried to admit his fault, but he was too defensive and ended up not admitting anything. Plus, the circumstances hadn’t been in their favor to work things out then.

They had been ripped apart. Again. Not just their work pulling them in different directions that day, but also a rift in their trust that Fitz felt **_he_** had caused. They had promised each other not to let it happen. And yet they were failing. Again.

The last time she was taken from him their last words were his awkward attempt at asking her out. It left him happy, hopeful.

This time, their last words had been an argument. He had grabbed his jacket, mumbled “see you later then,” and left.

Those were his last words. And they left him with nothing but regret.

And except for a short text the night before, he hadn’t heard from her at all since.

His reply had been short. Short, because he couldn’t put all his thoughts into a text. Short because he needed to tell her in person. Needed to see her, hear her, feel her.

She hadn’t answered any of his calls. Hadn’t returned any of his calls. Nobody knew where she was. Something didn’t feel right.

What had happened to her? _Why_ hadn’t she called him back?

He wants to make a promise right then and there. “If I get out of this alive--”

A siren blares. Red warning lights begin to rotate around him. A high-pitched sound emanates from the overloading panels. There’s no way to stop it.

He steps back, raising his hands. “Oh no,” escapes his lips, but his mind is whispering a different word, his _favorite_ word, her name.

A bright wave rushes towards him. Seems to go through him, engulfing everything in white.

Silence.

Nothing but silence when it has passed.

He knows what happened. He can’t explain how he knows, but somehow he does. Maybe it’s that he can’t see himself. Maybe it’s that he can’t feel himself. Maybe it’s the deafening silence, as if all sound has disappeared around him. Maybe it’s that everything looks brighter and darker at the same time.

He’s there. And yet he isn’t.

“If I get out of this alive--”

That wasn’t the question anymore.

“If she’s alive… if she finds me… please find me, Jemma.”


End file.
